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Nightmare Before Hogwarts

By: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J. K. Rowling. Nightmare before Christmas is the property of Touchstone/Disney and Tim Burton. Corpse Bride is also the property of Tim Burton and Warner Bros. Pictures. Beetlejuice is also property of Tim Burton.

Author note: Hey guys. Now I’m sure a lot of you are going “where the heck have you been!? You haven’t updated this in a while” or something like that. Well the simple truth is I’ve had very little time to work on writing, we’re shorthanded at the place I work which means I’ve been working extra hours during the week and sometimes extra days, so most evenings I’m just so tired that I can’t even think straight much less work on stories. It sucks, I won’t lie, the extra money is nice but I’m more than ready to get back to a normal work week so I won’t be so tired out all the time. I try to write on my days off but sometimes that doesn’t work out either because I’ve got to catch up on other stuff I pushed off during the week.

So updates are gonna continue to be slow for a while longer, hopefully we’ll get someone hired that will stay working and I can get back to writing and posting more.

Also wanted to tell everyone that WikiSorcerer went and made a nice little page for this fic on the TV Tropes website which is really cool and you should check out what he made, just look under Fanfic/TheNightmareBeforeHogwarts on the site.

Lastly, due to real life, Werejaguar of Halloween Town who had been betaing this fic for me has had to pull out so I want to thank her for all the work and ideas she helped me with on this story. So this fic is once again without a proof reader for now until I can get someone to take that over.

As always, y’all are great and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 18

Sirius gave the bathroom an amused look as he closed the door behind him, like the rest of the house it had that twisted gothic look to it. In a way it reminded him of his childhood home, 12 Grimmauld Place, as it too had a dark a twisted look to it after years and years of dark magic and curses being cast in the home. Yet somehow this place was a lot more charming and would send his mother into fits if she ever saw this place.

As Sirius striped off the pajamas, leaving a trail of clothing on the floor as he crossed the room to the large claw foot tub and turned the water as hot as he thought he could stand it, he couldn’t help but wonder if his ‘dear’ old mother was still among the living or not. Not that he really truly cared if she was in fact he hoped she wasn’t.

Walburga Black was a horrible twisted woman who spouted praises of Pureblood families, of which the Black family was the best in her and many other Black family members opinions, and curses toward anyone else. She hated muggles, muggle-borns and non-humans with a passion and thought they didn’t deserve a place in a proper wizarding world. She was a horrible mother as well, she had never liked Sirius who had a mind of his own and refused to follow the family teachings. On the other hand she doted on Sirius’s younger brother Regulus since the day his baby brother was born making sure Sirius knew Reggy has been the favored son.

Walburga had been determined that Sirius would fit the mold of a ‘proper’ pureblood using curses and punishments via her crazy House Elf Kreacher, someone else whom Sirius hated with all his heart. Once he started Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor, his mother liked to compare Sirius to Severus Snape, whom she would sniff at as he was a half blood but would comment he acted more like a proper wizard than Sirius did. That was one of the reasons why Sirius hated Snape so much, being compared to the greasy git by his mother. Everything had come to a head in Sirius’s fifth year before Christmas holidays after he had ended up telling Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow after the other then teen wouldn’t stop following them around and taunting Sirius that he knew something was up with Remus.

Sirius winced in remembrance, that hadn’t been one of his smarter ideas. He hadn’t, at the time, wanted to kill Snape as much as he hated the other man and hadn’t wanted to get Remus into trouble. He had just been so frustrated with Snape following them around all the time, at that point the pranks has been mostly harmless and they hadn’t targeted Snape solely despite what the man thought, but Snape had been determined to get them all into trouble and Sirius had in a moment of not thinking told Snape how to get past the willow.

Honestly, Sirius didn’t think Snape would have listened to him and had put it out of his mind until a couple of days later when he and James had been watching the Marauders Map, an ingenious piece of charmed parchment the Marauders had made. It hadn’t been in its final complete form at the time as they were still mapping the castle and working out the charms for the parchment to do what they wanted, but it had been enough for Sirius and James to see Snape heading toward the willow as they had been watching the parchment waiting for Madame Pomfrey to leave so they could head down to keep Moony company. That was when Sirius had remembered the conversation with Snape and confessed to James what he had done.

James had yelled at Sirius as they raced for the willow which Snape had already paralyzed by pressing the knot at the base of the tree and down the tunnel for James to pull Snape away just in the to keep Remus in his werewolf form from biting the Slytherin, saving Snape’s life. The time between that incident and Christmas holidays hadn’t been fun, Remus and James had both been angry at him and Sirius had been alone. Even Peter had pulled away taking the pair’s side, not that Sirius blamed any of them. And despite what Snape would claim, Sirius had been punished for the incident with loss of points and detention though only the professors knew the reason; his fellow students at the time had just assumed Sirius had been caught pulling a prank. He had let them believe that to keep Remus’s secret.

Then came the winter holidays and his father, Orion Black, had sent a message that Sirius would be coming home instead of staying at the school like he originally planned. His parents had learned that he had nearly gotten a student killed, his mother had been ecstatic since it was in her words ‘just a half blood’ which the world would be better off without. It hadn’t even mattered that it was the same half blood she constantly compared Sirius to, Walburga had just assumed Sirius had finally ‘seen the light’ so to speak and was ready to act like a proper Black even going as far as saying Sirius could use the incident to get the attention of the Dark Lord.

Boy had she be livid when Sirius had popped that little fantasy of hers. He had sworn to never join her ‘beloved’ Dark Lord and said a lot of things that he had wanted to say for years to both Walburga and Orion. His parents had been beyond livid and Sirius remembered a few curses thrown his way as he scrambled to his room, decorated in scantily clad muggle girl pinups, Gryffindor banners and posters and Quidditch memorabilia of his favorite team. Sirius had packed things important to him that he couldn’t leave behind into his school trunk that hadn’t been unpacked yet, shrinking it down and quickly flying out his bedroom window on his broom before either his parents or Kreacher could stop him, disregarding that he was breaking the rules about underage magic since he knew very well any magic done would be pinned on the adults.

Once far enough away from the house Sirius had landed and quickly called for the Knight Bus, a triple-decker purple bus that some witches and wizards used to get around on. Sirius had the bus take him to the Potter manor where despite the fact James was still a little angry over what happened, had taken one look at his friend and quickly got him inside. The only thing Sirius regretted was that he hadn’t been able to take Regulus with him, maybe save him from his fate in the future. Yes, Sirius didn’t get along with his sibling as they had drifted apart thanks to Sirius being sorted into Gryffindor and because of their parents but Sirius still loved his little brother deep down.

The best thing about that holiday, other than patching things up with James then later Remus, was that Sirius never had to go back to live with his parents ever again after that, all thanks to his great uncle-in-law Charlus Potter who was visiting that same Christmas. Charlus was Fleamont Potter’s younger brother, which make him James’s uncle as well, and was married to Sirius’s great aunt Dorea Potter nee Black on his mother’s side of the Black family, one of the few relatives from his family that he liked other than his uncle Alphard and his cousin Andromeda. Charlus and Dorea had arranged it with his grandfather Arcturus Black, who was still the head of the Black family, for Sirius to live with Fleamont and Euphemia Potter until he graduated Hogwarts. How they convinced his Grandfather agree to that Sirius had no idea but he had been grateful for it.

Speaking of, Sirius wondered if that old bastard was still alive. Not that he really cared but he supposed he should see who was still alive and who bit the dust. He also needed to somehow see how Andy was doing, was her daughter Nymie in Hogwarts yet? He was sure she was and wondered what house she had been sorted into, Slytherin like her mum or maybe Hufflepuff like her dad. Sirius was rooting for the Puffs, the Slytherin house wouldn’t be kind to a Half-blood like Nymphadora especially one who’s mother had been disowned by the Black family.

Sirius sighed loudly and leaned his head back, letting the hot water wash over him, there was so much to catch up on yet at the same time he had to be careful so he wouldn’t be captured again. He doubted that if he was they would toss him back into Azkaban, no this time they would more than likely either give him the Kiss or straight out kill him.

Sirius finally roused himself enough from his memories and thoughts to finally get to cleaning himself. He washed off layers of dirt that had clung to his skin even after Remus’s cleaning spell, leaving behind too pale skin that hadn’t seen the sun in a long time. He washed his hair as well though that looked like it would be a fruitless effort, his hair was so tangled that it was near impossible to run his fingers through the black strands. And there was quite a bit considering that Sirius had kept his hair long, at least a little past his shoulders, both at Hogwarts and after up until Azkaban. They hadn’t even bothered cutting his hair before being thrown into his cell leaving it to grow to the length it was now. After a while he gave up getting it untangled and finished his shower.

Stepping out of the tub, Sirius shivered as the much cooler air of the bathroom hit his wet skin, and grabbing a towel that was sitting on a shelf to vigorously dry himself off while walking over to the sink that had a mirror over it. He stared at the fogged up mirror not sure if he was ready to see himself just yet, not sure if he was ready to face and really see the damages the few short years in prison had done to him.

“Come on, Padfoot ol’ boy, where is that Gryffindor courage,” Sirius whispered to himself then placed his hand flat against the mirror, swiping it to the right. Condensation that clung to the reflective surface gathered and pooled against the side of Sirius’s hand then ran in rivulets both over his skin and down the glass of the mirror. He made two more swipes in a zigzag motion clearing the mirror enough to see. Sirius gave a small bark of laughter before saying to himself as he leaned closer, “well I won’t be winning any beauty pageants any time soon. Merlin, I look worse that I thought.”

Sirius took in the shrunken cheeks and hallowed eyes, the dark rings that made him look like a raccoon, the gnarled tangled mess his hair and beard was in… He took a step back so he could see his upper torso in the mirror and winced as he looked at himself. Sirius had somewhat of an idea of the condition his body was in having felt himself while he washed, but seeing it somehow made it so much worse.

“Merlin, I look like a walking skeleton,” he said with a shake of his head. “And even the only walking skeleton I’ve met looks better than I do.” Gazing a few more minutes at his reflection, Sirius thought he could easily pull off the looks of one of the mad Blacks, he finally turned away and hitched the towel high on his bony hips. The hair was a lost cause he decided and he felt it was time he changed his looks anyway.

Sirius stood in the hallway looking at all the doors as he tried to remember which one he had awoken in, he knew the one at the end was Harry’s but… he couldn’t remember which one he had come out of, too focused on following Harry’s scent as Padfoot.

“Mr. Padfoot?” Sirius turned to the sound of Harry’s voice, the little boy peeking out of the doorway of his room. “Why are you standing in the hallway?”

“Hey there, Prongslet,” Sirius said giving his godson a sheepish smile. “I sorta forgot which room is mine… mind helping your forgetful dogfather out?” Harry seemed to hesitate for a moment then came out of his room, Mr. Bitey trailing behind him. Sirius got the very distinct feeling that ‘Mr. Bitey’ didn’t like him at all if the look the toy was giving him was anything to go by. Harry took his hand and guided him to a room he had seen his parents and Uncle Moony set up for Sirius. “Thanks, pup…. You can come in if you want. I missed you very much while I was gone Harry.”

Harry seemed to think about it for a moment then followed Sirius into the room, climbing into the plush black chair by the window. Mr. Bitey climbed up after him, sitting down in Harry’s lap so the boy could hug him.

“Mr. Padfoot?” Harry asked eyes adverted as Sirius dressed into more of the comfy looking pajamas that had been bought for him.

“Hmm?” Sirius’s answering hum was muffled by the top as he pulled it on. Harry’s green eyes glanced up at Mr. Padfoot, taking in the pale skin that was pulled taunt over ribs. It reminded Harry of how he looked, ‘skin and bones’ his mummy had called it due to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon not feeding him very much. He was starting to fill out, gaining back the baby fat and weight that he should be for his age bit by bit, but he hadn’t been as bad off as Mr. Padfoot was now. “Did you say something, pup?”

Harry blinked at looked up at Sirius again, blushed then ducked his head shyly as he traced his finger over Mr. Bitey’s patchwork stitches.

“What’s a ‘dogfather’?” he asked. Sirius sat on the edge of the bed facing Harry, thinking for a second of inviting Harry to sit on the bed with him but quickly discarding that thought as he didn’t want to make Harry uncomfortable in any way.

“Well, it’s sorta a joke because I’m your godfather; do you know what that is?” Sirius asked. Harry nodded.

“Daddy said that means you picked you to take care of me when he and Mummy died,” Harry said. “But you didn’t get to take care of me cause you were in the bad jail and my godmother is really sick so she couldn’t take me either so I went to Aunt Petunia.” Lily and James had taken a bit of time to explain to Harry why he hadn’t gone to his other chosen guardian Alice in a very kid friendly way, saying she was sick in a way she couldn’t take care of herself and lived at a hospital because of that. They hadn’t, of course, wanted to go into any great detail of what happened to her or Frank but had wanted Harry to know people hadn’t just abandoned him to Lily’s older sister. Harry thankfully was very smart, even if he did act a little younger than his current age, and had understood enough to know everything was out of his control and nothing was his fault.

“Yes, that’s right,” Sirius said. “And believe me, Harry, I would have taken you in a heartbeat but things got really out of control and I was put away without being able to tell the truth. But I never stopped loving you like my own kid.” Harry smiling shyly up at him, face pressed against his toy. Sirius’s heart melted, he didn’t understand how anyone couldn’t love this adorable little boy. “Anyway you saw how I turned into a dog right? Well since I turn into dog a lot your dear old dad called me your ‘Dogfather’ and it just stuck.”

“Oh… does that make me the ‘dogson’?” Harry asked watching confused as Sirius snorted softly as if trying to hold in laughter then gave up, falling over onto his side on the bed as he giggled madly. Harry and Mr. Bitey traded confused looks then Harry started giggling as well. He didn’t understand what Sirius found so funny but laughter was infectious and had the young boy laughing as well. The others downstairs heard the laughter, looking at each other curious, before James stood and headed up.

Following the sounds of the laughter, James grinned as he leaned against the door frame of Sirius’s room watching his best friend crack-up like hyena on the bed and his beloved son giggling his heart out in a chair across the room.

“What’s so funny?” he asked. Harry’s face lit up and slid off the chair, running over to James with his arms held up.

“Daddy!” James grinned and swept Harry up, setting the young Potter on his hip. “I asked Mr. Padfoot was a ‘dogfather’ is and then I asked if I was the ‘dogson’. Then Mr. Padfoot started laughing.”

“Dogson!” Sirius repeated with a grin and his laughter started up again. James chuckled and shook his head then leaned close to Harry.

“Paddy is just easily amused, Prongslet,” he said in a stage whisper. “Don’t mind him. Why don’t we let Mr. Padfoot take a nap for now, he’s still got to recover a lot more.”

“Okay,” Harry agreed easily and wiggled to be let down. He picked up Mr. Bitey and ran out of the room to go downstairs.

“Well you’re looking a bit better, Padfoot,” James said as he collapsed in the chair Harry had been sitting in. Sirius snorted as he came down from his laughing high then yawned widely.

“I still looked like a mad hobo,” he said as he rolled over onto his back with a groan, one arm draped across his eyes, his tangled beard scratched against his arm as if proving his point.

“I don’t know, it could be a new look for you,” James teased then laughed as Sirius gave him a lazy two-finger salute.

“Wanker,” Sirius said his voice tired. Everything was catching up to him, the adrenaline bleeding out of his body know that he was fed, washed and safe. He was just so tired now and he barely noticed as James helped him under the covers before dropping off to sleep.

*****

The next few hours, maybe even days, were nothing but a blur to Sirius. His exhausted body and mind were taking the chance to get all the rest Sirius had missed out on from not only from his time in Azkaban but also the stress from fighting in the wizarding war before that. When Sirius wasn’t sleeping, he had vague memories of eating light foods, choking down potions, and going to the loo. In between those times were spent sleeping and if Sirius dreamt of anything he couldn’t remember.

When his body had finally gotten enough rest, Sirius seemed to go from a deep sleep to full awake-ness in a snap. He blinked gray eyes, yawning widely and rubbing at his face as his brain felt clearer than it had in such a long time. He felt alert yet lazy, feeling no need to rush anywhere as he knew he was safe with his chosen family.

When Sirius stood his knees nearly buckled out from under him, so unused to moving after so much time sleeping, causing him to stumble a bit. His stomach also made itself know by growling loudly demanding it be fed.

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you,” Sirius murmured to himself as he as he scratched at the skin of his stomach under his top and headed out the room in the direction of the stairs and down to the ground floor. Sirius took his time really looking around, something he hadn’t done after waking up the first time. Like everything else the living room and hallway were done in grays, whites and blacks. The furniture was twisted and misshapen looking, paintings on the walls were spooky and gothic yet in an almost comedic way. The only bright splashes of color Sirius saw were wizarding photos from their time at Hogwarts and when Harry was a baby.

In the middle of the living room Sirius found Harry sitting on a black and white rug playing a board game with a…a… well Sirius didn’t have a clue what it was. It looked like an odd little creature with cloven hooves, horns and whip-like tail and covered in thick looking fur. It was rubbing its chin with clawed fingers before grinning widely with a mouth filled with too many sharp teeth and moved a piece on the board.

“Hey!” Harry said laughing as the thing captured one of his checker pieces. Sirius shook his head and headed into the kitchen where Lily was cleaning.

“Look who’s decided to rejoin us,” Lily said in greeting as she turned to look at him, hands grabbing a towel to dry off on.

“Hey Lils… umm… so what is that…” Sirius pointed into the living room with a confused look on his face.

“Oh, you mean Bob?” Lily asked as she reached into the oven to remove a plate of breakfast she saved for the man.

“Bob?” Sirius repeated with a raised eyebrow,

“It’s what we call it, Jack told us its name once but it was impossible to pronounce. The only part we understood sounded like ‘Bob’ so that’s what we call it,” Lily explained as she set the plate in front of Sirius. “It’s the family Boggart.”

Sirius dropped the fork in surprise and looked up at Lily with wide eyes.

“A Boggart?” he said turning in his seat to look back into the living room. “Are you sure it’s safe to be around Harry? That’s what a Boggart really looks like?” Lily grinned and laughed softly.

“Remus asked the same thing. It’s pretty tame, I think it scared James and Jack scared it back so now it behaves. It seems to adore Harry,” Lily said as she sat down and looked Sirius over. “You’re looking a bit better, not so much like a raccoon.”

“How long have I been sleeping?” Sirius asked curious. “It feels like days.”

“You’ve been up and down a few times but not as much as you’re thinking,” Lily said. Sirius nodded and scratched at his cheek, scowling as his fingers dug into his facial hair.

“Ugh… I need to get rid of this,” he said then reached up to tug at his hair. “Get this cut too. I was thinking of cutting it short.”

“You, with short hair? I never thought I see the day,” Lily teased gently. “You were all so proud of having long hair.”

“It was mostly to drive my Mum up the wall. And it got me plenty of dates,” Sirius winked then sighed. “But I think now it’s time for a change don’t you.”

“Yes, I can see that. But if you’re asking me to cut it, you’re asking the wrong person,” Lily pointed out.

“Aww come on, Lily-flower, you’re the best with charms,” Sirius said giving her one of charming flirty smile. Lily just snorted and rolled her eyes but a small smile quirked at her lips.

“True but you know as well as I do that those sorts of charms only mimic the real thing and if a person can’t cut straight with a pair of scissors then they can’t do so with cutting charms and the Severing charm isn’t recommended for a haircut,” she reminded him. Sirius winced as he remembered Lily was horrible at cutting anything with a pair of scissors, it always came out choppy and in uneven lines. She did fine chopping up ingredients for potions or cooking with a knife but put a pair of scissors in her hands and it was a whole different story. The one and only times she cut Harry’s hair as a baby his hair had looked even worse than it had to start with, after than it was agreed by all parties that James would be the one to cut Harry’s hair.

Sirius wasn’t going to let James anywhere near his hair; James would more than likely give Sirius a horrible haircut on purpose just to mess with Sirius.

“Remus then?” Sirius suggested thinking the werewolf might be the safer bet.

“Well… I think I might know something that can tame that mess,” Lily said slowly as an idea formed. “I’ll have to ask her. I can trust you to watch Harry for a few minutes can’t I?”

“Of course!” Sirius exclaimed with mock outrage. Lily rolled her eyes upward and shook her head then Sirius turned to his breakfast, wolfing it down as he listened with half an ear as Lily told Harry than she would be back in a few minutes to get someone called ‘Sally’. Picking up the mug of hot cocoa let on the table for him, Sirius carried the hot drink into the living room and sat down on the crooked yet comfy couch watching Harry and ‘Bob’ the Boggart start another round of checkers. Mr. Bitey was there too Sirius noticed as the living toy moved so he could both keep an eye on Sirius and watch his owner.

“Mr. Padfoot!” Harry said when he noticed his godfather sitting in the room.

“Morning, pup,” Sirius greeted between sips of his hot chocolate, he still had lingering chills from his long term exposure to the Dementors which the chocolate helped chase away. “Or… afternoon? Anyway, your Mum asked me to watch you while she went to see someone.”

“She said she’s gonna get Aunt Sally,” Harry agreed as he moved one of the red pucks on the board.

“So… just who is ‘Aunt Sally’?” Sirius asked curious. Harry grinned again and turned to Sirius, giving Bob a chance to cackle and start switching around pieces until Mr. Bitey growled at it and made it put the pieces back where they had been. It grumbled softly under its breath in a rush of jumbled voices.

“She’s really nice, she makes really good spider cookies and she’s married to Uncle Jack,” Harry said. “She made me some clothing after they said I got to stay here.” Sirius hoped that ‘spider cookies’ were just cookies made to sorta look like spiders and not made out of, you know, real spiders.

“She does sound nice, I can’t wait to meet her,” Sirius said instead of commenting out lout his thought on the cookies. “So how many games have you played with… Bob?”

“Lots!” Harry said looking back at the board, already fixed back to what it was under Mr. Bitey’s watchful eye. “I won… ummm… 3 games? Bob wins a lot more but I’m getting better… I think.”

“Why don’t I help you,” Sirius suggested as he slid onto the floor next to Harry. “I use to be very good at checkers and at wizarding chess.”

“What’s that?” Harry asked. Harry had something of a vague idea of what chess was, his uncle Vernon claimed it was something that well off people played while Aunt Petunia claimed that only smart people played the game. There actually a chess board and set that sat in the Dursley’s living room, it was very old and had belonged to some family member that Aunt Petunia had been close too growing up. It was one of her few prized possession from her past that she proudly displayed for all to see, Harry had never been allowed to touch it and it was one of the few things Dudley would get in trouble for if he even thought about touching a single piece of the set.

“It’s the same as the way Muggles play but the pieces are charmed to move and talk on their own so it’s a lot more entertaining,” Sirius explained. “How about I teach you later? Right now, let’s see about getting your score above Bob’s huh?” He winked playfully making Harry laugh and move over a bit so Sirius could sit next to him and show him some neat tricks on the checker board.